Northern Swords

The Northern Swords finished their 2015 NZRL National Premiership campaign with another solid performance on Saturday, against the defending champions and 2015 finalists the Rockcote Canterbury Bulls. Even though the score board showed a 56 – 20 loss, there were again lots of positives to be had from the match. For the first 10 minutes it looked possible that the Swords may do the unthinkable and knock over the Bulls as the Swords looked structured and composed as they played out their sets and controlled the defense line. The Swords were the first team to score through play maker Kyle Hool, however this only spurned the Bulls pack into action. Led by inspiration Captain, Chris Bamford, the Bulls were able to gain momentum through their superior size and strength and were able to turn the smaller Swords players around and capitalise through their slick outside backs.

Here is the Starting 13 Line up for Round 7 of the NZRL National Competition – Northern Swords v Rockcote Canterbury Bulls, playing this Saturday 10th October at Toll Stadium, kick off at 1:30pm. The curtain raiser is the Scott Electrical Sparkies v Placemakers Chippies who kick off at 11:30am. Gates will be open at 11:00 – Adults $5, children 12 and under Gold Coin koha.

The Northern Swords 15s and 17s had an impressive Got a Trade Got it Made National Tournament in Rotorua last week. For the first time ever, both the 15s and 17s managed to lift themselves off the bottom of the table with both teams finishing in 6th place (out of 8 teams). “We are by far the smallest zone in terms of playing numbers, but we are seeing that our players are improving year after year on the field. We have some exceptional talent coming through and they are getting noticed at a National and NRL level which has to be great for the growth of the game in Northland” said, RLN General Manager, Alex Smits.

The Northern Swords U14s travel to Tauranga to play in the RULA Regional Tournament. This is the third year that the Swords have participated in this tournament, previously we have sent an U13s team, but this year the structure has changed to focus on the U14s Grade. The Swords 14s are coached by Jimmy Croft with Mike Hetaraka the Team Manager. They will face Nationals (toa Samoa), Auckland Maori, Counties Manukau, Bay of Plenty and Coastline. The Swords 14s have five players who will be backing up from the U15s Nationals so are fairly confident that they will be competitive at this tournament.

Premiers Swords Coach, Jon Renes, has built a youthful squad that has seen vast improvements throughout the campaign and although the score line remains on the negative side of the ledger the squad remains upbeat and is committed to improving performance after performance. In the weekend they trailed 16 – 6 at half time against an Akarana team that was desperate to prove to critics that they are the force that they have been in previous years. In the past the Swords would have capitulated and conceded a heavy score line against their Auckland counterparts – however they were able to hold onto a very respectable 40 – 12 loss.

The final squads named for the Northern Swords 15s and 17s to participate in the NZRL Got A Trade Got It Made National Tournament, hosted at Puketawhero Park, Rotorua between Monday 28th September and Friday 2nd October.

The Northern Swords almost created the biggest upset in the history of the NZRL National Premiership on Saturday at Lindvart Park, in Kaikohe, as they led 28 – 24 with less than a minute left on the clock. The Swords were deep into the Orcas half on attack when on 5th and final tackle their attempted drop goal got charged down. Orca winger, Patrick Ahnau was first on the scene from the charge down toeing it ahead to commence a footrace with the Swords covering defence. He was fortunate that the ball popped up cleanly into his hands 5 metres away from the try line to score under the posts as the Swords defence tried desperately to hold him up. Orca’s standoff, Bronson Marino, calmly slotted the 2 points to snatch victory 30 – 28.

Saturday will see a festival of Rugby League with the Northern Swords playing the Wellington Orcas as well as the Barney Wharerau Memorial 9s Tournament. The day forms part of RLN’s strategy to bring the Swords to the community, we have a young team that we are working with for the future. The NZRL National Competition is hugely competitive and of an incredibly high standard, come down to Kaikohe and enjoy some high class Rugby League, bring your whanau, it’s a free event and support the Swords and be a part of the first ever Barney Wharerau 9s Tournament. You may even being watching Northland’s next NRL Star with two players from Northland recently signing contracts with NRL Clubs.